Author: William Meikle

A lot of beginners go off the rails when they’ve got a nice clean sheet of paper or a blank screen in front of them and they’ve got to fill it with words – meaningful words.

The way to avoid the cold feeling of panic is to have a plan of action. The type of plan that works best for you depends on your personality. Some of you will make structured lists, with every small detail itemized and all T’s crossed. Or you may have a vague set of instructions, sometimes little more than remembering to have a beginning, middle and end. Others of you will find that the best way to work is just to start writing and see where it takes you.

The way to find what will work for you is to plan out some example pieces of work. You might never write them, but the practice will benefit you. For example, how would you go about writing an episode of your favourite TV show, or an article on a local photography exhibition, or a review of a best-seller? By writing a plan of approach, you’ll give yourself an idea of what the final piece of work would require. When I started writing short stories I used to deconstruct famous stories and plan how I’d re-write them.

The planning step also gives you a check as to whether or not you actually want to write the piece. And remember, if you plan not to have a plan, you’ve still decided on a plan. And don’t stop here.

It’s now time to plan your opening sentence. To get readers to keep reading you need a hook, something that will lead them in and keep them there until you’ve told them what they didn’t know they needed to know. Crime writers kill people, romance novelists have people get divorced, good writers hint at a conflict to come but hide it in the middle of something else. Journalists scream at you in huge type and article writers ask you rhetorical questions, all in the first five seconds of reading.

Go away and study the structure of some writing. Look at how writers grab you and reel you in like an expert fisherman.

And ask yourself, “How would I do that?”

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ – Free Articles Directory

About the Author:

William Meikle is currently planning his ninth novel. Read more articles at his website at http://www.williammeikle.com

You’re right, I don’t work in an office, I work from home. But I did work in an office and there was often something that kept me at work when I no longer needed to be there. And even at home, there are things that keep me at my desk when I’d rather be outside on a lawn chair.

I just read the latest post on Zen Habits (a guest post from Alexandra Levit) and it meshed pretty well with an article on Lifehacker from last week, so I thought I’d post a short summary of the two articles.

1. Get stuff done. Yeah, easier said than done, I know. But you can “nip procrastination in the bud” by “working in dashes” and “remind[ing] your future self.
   • Break larger tasks into smaller ones.
   • Complete smaller (easier) parts of the task to make the overall task more manageable.
   • Set a timer and work on a specific task for a specific period.
   • Set a reminder to spend time working on tasks that aren’t due until some time in the future.
2. Use productivity tools. Learn tricks for making Google searches better, use shortcut keys (Microsoft’s or Apple’s), or Google Docs or Google Calendar.
3. Doable to-do lists. ‘Nuff said.

There you have it. Three solid [summarized] ways to get stuff done. You really need to take a look at the articles and click through some of the links to really get an idea of tools that are out there to help you do this. I know I need it!

Of course, “ain’t” is a word. I found it in the dictionary!   — random 7-year old.

In Friday’s post, I said that a dictionary is the  most important writing resource. True, but beware. As mentioned in a much earlier post, the English language is descriptive, as opposed to prescriptive (like French). This why I suggested picking a dictionary and sticking with it. Dictionary editors and publishers, for the English language, are forever updating their dictionaries based on current common language usage.

By using the same dictionary, even through successive editions, you maintain the same consistency throughout your writing. Especially if you work for the same client for a number of writing projects, all of the related documentation will use the same definitions and spelling.

This is also where a consistent personal style guide plays a role. Once you’ve made some decisions about how you’re going to write, you can choose to override the dictionary. If the dictionary ever changes, you can choose to update your style guide and all your documentation, or you can choose to ignore the change.

Are there any words (definition or usage) in your dictionary that you ignore?

This is a general list of useful resources for technical writers, which may also be helpful to other writers and communicators. I’m not necessarily advocating any particular products, but the examples will be the products I use myself.

1. Dictionary

I don’t think I can stress enough the importance of a good dictionary. A writer must produce correct spelling, grammar and usage and all of these are provided in a good dictionary.

I will also stress the importance of always using the same dictionary. By using the same dictionary for all your writing, your writing will be much more consistent. And if you’re writing for a client, you can always defend your writing decisions by referring to your chosen dictionary.

Being in Canada, I use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, but the Oxford Dictionary of English is also available as an excellent authority of the English language.

2. Style guide

A style guide is another resource of which I cannot stress the importance enough. Whether you’re using Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style, The Associated Press Stylebook 2009 or the Canadian Press Stylebook, you can ensure consistentcy in your writing. This works in your favour again by making it easier to defend your writing decisions.

Specifically for technical applications, I use the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (sorry, this links to the second edition, and I would definitely recommend the third edition). This is an excellent guide for writing documentation and communication for software applications.

I also recommend to create a personal style guide.  While writing, make notes about preferred words, terms and other usage. Are you going to use am and pm, a.m. and p.m. or a 24-hour system (08:00, 20:00)? How are you going to write time zones? How do you handle abbreviations? While making your writing more consistent, it also removes the need to make these kinds of decisions on the fly.

3. Usage guide

While a usage guide can often be replaced by a dictionary and style guide, it helps to make decisions about usage in new situations, or confirm usage in awkward situations.

While I’ve heard some comments against it, I prefer Fowler’s Modern English Usage. I’ve managed to resolve a number of usage conflicts using Fowler’s; for example, whether I can use nor without having previously used neither (yes, I can).

4. Thesaurus

I do not to use a thesaurus. To quote Stephen King:

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
— Stephen King, “Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully – in Ten Minutes”, 1988

Conclusion

To conclude, you see that there aren’t many resources, and there shouldn’t be. The more you have to make reference to a book, guide or even your own notes, you slow down your writing. And, if you’re like me, you lose your train of thought and your writing suffers. You don’t have to use (or even like) the suggestions I’ve made, but sticking to specific resources will ensure your writing is consistent and any decisions can be defended.

What are your preferred resources?